My Little Pony: Friendship is Betrayal
My Little Pony: Friendship is Betrayal is a webcomic by Dewdee. It used to update irregularly, then it updated every Wednesday (with the exception of the week of August 29, 2012, as Dewdee explained that he was busy with work Archived locally). It usually has several pages, typically three, per update. An RSS feed is available. Dewdee confirmed that there would be 7 acts in total, in response to a fan. He also confirmed that the ending may or may not be sad, depending on the reader's point of view, but that it would definitely be bloody. Archived locally On December 3, 2012, in a response to a comment left by "Twinkypinkie", Dewdee stated that while real life circumstances reduced the time he could spend on the comic, he would not discontinue the comic. Archived locally On May 2, 2013, a page was posted by Dewdee, proclaiming that he was back, and encouraging readers to post something in the comments section on the page. The first four pages of Chapter 5 were posted on a Tuesday (May 14, 2013), while the next three were posted on a Thursday.__TOC__ Origins of the comic Dewdee has stated that when he first started watching the show, he was somewhat afraid of the ponies, as he felt that they all seemed so happy and friendly, that there had to be some horrible secret that they were all hiding. Archived locally He also mentions that at the time, he was watching anime, such as Elfen Lied or Higurashi, with a similar contrast between the characters and the events within the show, that would later be found in the comic. Archived locally Additionally, on the about page on the comic's website, he explains the comic is his way of showing appreciation for the show. Style Much like Friendship is Dragons, the comic uses screenshots with altered captions and dialogue to retell episodes of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. Occasionally, a panel is digitally altered, something that occurs with higher frequency as the comic goes on. The thoughts of the main characters are expressed via differently-styled captions; Twilight's, for instance, are yellow and rectangular-shaped, Pinkie's are purple and jagged. There is no verbal narration. The first chapter, which covers Friendship is Magic, parts 1 and 2, follows Twilight Sparkle exclusively, and the majority of the thought captions are hers. The following chapters utilize images from more episodes and also use more original material, but the narrative concept remains the same; chapter 2 is told mostly from Pinkie Pie's point of view, chapter 3 from Rarity's, and chapter 4 from Fluttershy's. Summary Act 1: The Mare in the Moon The comic starts with an abridged but otherwise mostly unaltered quote of the prologue of the show's first episode, briefly summarizing Luna's rebellion and banishment. The narrative diverges from there: Twilight is still Celestia's pupil, but believes that the Princess, who she secretly likes to call a mule, is much less benign than she seems. Her interest in the Nightmare Moon tale is less in preventing her return than in finding out how Celestia rose to power. Celestia sends her to Ponyville to oversee preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration, which serves as an introduction to the other main characters. Twilight is paranoid that Celestia intends to have her killed, suspecting Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie of being her agents. Her suspicions prove almost correct; Pinkie drugs her drink, and the ponies take the unconscious Twilight off to their employer: Nightmare Moon. The next scene takes its screenshots from the confrontation scene in Friendship is Magic, part 2 and Twilight's flashback in The Cutie Mark Chronicles. Twilight tries to explain her opposition of Celestia's rule, but Nightmare Moon does not believe her. She stuns Twilight and uses a spell to read her memories; specifically, the memory of the day Twilight hatched Spike. It turns out that the spell triggered by the sonic rainboom essentially killed Twilight's parents, because Celestia refused to turn them back into ponies after Twilight accidentally transformed them. So not only did Twilight become Celestia's pupil on that day, it was also the first time Twilight started to suspect something was wrong with Celestia's public image. Nightmare Moon tells Twilight she is likely a pony spoken of in prophecy, destined to "bring about harmony between day and night". She essentially offers the unicorn a chance to join her and defeat Celestia, but when the other ponies come into the room, Twilight declines: she intends to use the Elements of Harmony to defeat both Celestia and Nightmare Moon. Pinkie and the others quickly agree to her plan and unleash the magic, turning Nightmare Moon back into Luna. Celestia arrives and punishes her sister for her rebellion by killing her. Back in Ponyville, Twilight continues to plot Celestia's downfall, intending to bide her time until she knows she's powerful enough to defeat Equestria's ruler and take her place on the throne. In the final page of the chapter, Celestia reveals she had a mole among Twilight's new "friends" all along, leaving Twilight to wonder who that might be and why she has apparently not informed Celestia of Twilight's intended betrayal. Act 2: Griffon the Brush-off Like the episode it is based on, this chapter starts with Pinkie Pie annoying Twilight, who is sitting on a park bench and just wants to be left alone to read. Pinkie gets distracted when she sees Rainbow Dash flying overhead; she starts to follow her to see where the Pegasus is going, much to Rainbow's dismay. She is meeting with Gilda, whom she introduces to Pinkie as a member of Celestia's guard who wants to join the conspiracy to overthrow Celestia. Pinkie suspects that something else is going on, but doesn't get very far before Gilda threatens her not to poke her nose where it doesn't belong and causes her flying contraption to crash. This leads into a flashback, once again using screencaps from The Cutie Mark Chronicles. It reveals that shortly before Rainbow Dash's first sonic rainboom, Pinkie was disowned by her very religious family for the sin of trying to make them laugh. Thoughts of suicide haunted her until a rainbow explosion literally showed her the light. She returned to her family's house and surprised them with a party, like in the original episode; however, in this version of the story, the party ends in bloodshed, with Pinkie drugging and killing her parents, thus earning her her cutie mark. Back in the present, Pinkie starts to suspect that Rainbow Dash is conspiring with Gilda to betray the other ponies. Upon witnessing Gilda scaring Granny Smith with her tail and complaining about the lack of amusing lethal consequences, Pinkie looks directly at the reader and relays her outrage that Gilda is "even stealing her favorite hobbies now". Gilda appears to believe that Pinkie Pie is dead, and mutters to herself that the other conspirators will soon follow suit. Pinkie thinks she will go after Fluttershy next, and enlists Twilight, Spike, and eventually Applejack to save the Pegasus from Gilda. They arrive at Froggy Bottom Bog (for which the comic segues to screenshots from Feeling Pinkie Keen), only to find Fluttershy safe and sound. Twilight accuses Pinkie Pie of being the traitor and having made up the story about Rainbow Dash and Gilda, not noticing a hydra rising out of the swamp and rearing its heads behind her. Twilight barely manages to kill the beast by slicing its belly open with her horn. The incident has convinced Twilight that Pinkie is not the traitor. Pinkie volunteers to interrogate Rainbow Dash, who is now the group's prime suspect. The interrogation scene uses - in part heavily altered - screenshots from Party of One. Pinkie is successful: Rainbow confesses that she was trying to gain Gilda's trust in order to become a double agent for the conspirators, but had nothing to do with trying to kill Pinkie and Fluttershy. Remembering that the Pegasus' Sonic Rainboom once saved her life, Pinkie chooses to believe her friend. The comic then returns to using material from Griffon the Brush Off: During a party Gilda has been lured to, Pinkie injects her with tranquilizer and "takes her somewhere she can rest in peace". She kills her and, it is implied, turns Gilda into cupcakes she can feed Gummy. Those same cupcakes are apparently later eaten by Spike, who is not aware of the special recipe. Meanwhile, Twilight sends Celestia a letter, telling her about a "renegade guardsman" whose evil plans were foiled by Twilight and her friends. She also wonders aloud how Gilda was able to summon a hydra to kill Fluttershy. Celestia writes back that she is glad Gilda has been punished, and that she has no idea who could possibly have the power to control a hydra. All while remarking to herself - and thus revealing to the audience - that she is well aware that Twilight is plotting against her. In the final scene, using screenshots from the show's first episode, Twilight stares out a window in the library, uncertain of the future and whether she is fighting a war she cannot win. In a darkly humorous postscript, Spike comes in, asking her to partake in "the most delicious cupcakes ever", which Pinkie Pie has brought to the post-victory after-party Twilight isn't in the mood for. Act 3: A Dog and Pony Show Starting off with screenshots from Sweet and Elite - the first season-two episode used in the comic -, Celestia gifts Rarity a penthouse in Canterlot, as a reward for accepting the job of designing a Gala dress for the Princess. To avoid the implication that she is Celestia's spy, however, Rarity insists that she cannot spend all her time in Canterlot, and must return to Ponyville at some point. After this, the story transitions back to Ponyville, using screenshots from A Dog and Pony Show. Rarity's initial attempt at a dress is rejected by Celestia's emissary Sapphire Shores, who demands that Rarity look for more gems to stud the dress with. Loath to engage in manual labor, Rarity enlists Spike to do the digging, who may or may not have a crush on her. As he does so, Rarity remembers an episode from her childhood, illustrated with altered screenshots from The Cutie Mark Chronicles: Barred from taking part in a school play because she is "too pretty", she uses black magic to at least make the dresses she's designing for the play irresistible. One day, Princess Luna speaks to her through an apparition. Luna has sensed that Rarity is destined to be one of the Elements of Harmony and tells the unicorn to wait for the day when she'll be freed. From that day forward, Rarity is occasionally contacted telepathically and, it is implied, taught more aspects of dark magic. When Rarity returns to Ponyville, she completes the enchantment on her dresses, and on the day of the play, both the players and the audience are magically brainwashed into not accepting other designers. In the present day, Rarity comes upon some Diamond Dogs during her gem search, who immediately kidnap her. Rarity is unable to use her magic to escape because it is being blocked. However, when Twilight and the other friends arrive at the mine, led there by Spike, her powers return, enabling her to kill most of the Diamond Dogs and enslave the remaining ones using the mind control spell from her youth. The ponies take what gems they can with them as they leave the mine, though Rarity does not tell that just who the "special customer" is she needs them for. Nor does she tell Twilight who taught her the mind control spell in the first place, which makes her suspect - incorrectly - that it was Celestia. Twilight also deduces - correctly this time - that the entire incident was orchestrated by Celestia; she set the Diamond Dogs on Rarity, and she blocked her magic, lifting the constriction only when the other ponies arrived at the mine. As the chapter ends, Twilight wonders what Celestia's plans are. Act 4: Dragonshy The fourth chapter begins with screenshots from the beginning of Dragonshy. This Fluttershy is less timid and kind-hearted than the one from the show, at least in dealing with her animals. When two fish don't like their meal, she punishes them by feeding them to the otters. As in the episode, she chases after Angel who doesn't want to finish eating his carrot when she notices smoke billowing out from a mountaintop, and goes to warn all the ponies about it. Also as in the episode, her pleas to the ponies go ignored, due to her lack of volume, while Twilight manages to get the ponies' attention. Twilight then proclaims that she and her friends will slay the dragon, in order to prevent Ponyville's fall. Later, during a meeting between Twilight and her friends, Applejack expresses her doubts as to their ability to kill a full-grown dragon, and Rarity suggest that they should let the Royal Guard handle the situation. Twilight, however, turns down this idea, as she suspects that Celestia might be behind the entire incident. Rainbow Dash then reassures her friends with the assertion that Twilight must have a plan, which Twilight confirms, and then Rainbow proclaims that they'll become famous as the "Dragonslayers of Ponyville". Twilight, however, cautions against getting too ahead of themselves, and then reveals her plan, which is to have the all the ponies, except for Fluttershy, distract the dragon long enough for Fluttershy to "do her thing". Twilight then reveals in her thoughts that she doesn't trust Fluttershy, and the moment her "cute facade" slips up, she's dead. Rarity also expresses her doubts as to the amount of faith being placed in Fluttershy, and Fluttershy tries to use this to back out of her role in the plan, but Twilight assures them that the plan is the only way, for as she explains, adult dragons can only be killed by brute force or finesse, and she points out their shortcomings in the force department. Rainbow Dash is quick to tout Fluttershy's abilities, leaving Fluttershy wondering why her friends are putting so much faith in her. At her house, some time later, Fluttershy reminisces about her past, using scenes from The Cutie Mark Chronicles: how it has been a constant struggle for her to get where she is, and how she used to fear all the ponies around her. She explains that being a Pegasus, if you are unable to fly, you're worthless, and that while she sometimes managed to fit in, for every success she achieved, she experienced a failure twice as big. She then reminisces about when she met Rainbow Dash. She notes that Dash was somepony she felt like she had always known; that it felt as though it had always been their destiny to meet. Just like in the episode, Rainbow Dash stands up for Fluttershy to the bullies. Fluttershy notes that Dash felt like an old friend, even though they had just met, and suspects that Dash felt the same thing. She speculates that it has something to do with the Elements of Harmony. While remembering how the race began, Fluttershy notes that nopony had ever stood up for her like that before; that Rainbow Dash showed her how she could stand up for herself, and that she will always be grateful for Dash's support. However, once the race began, Fluttershy says she quickly learned a new aspect of Dash: the fact that she is most loyal to her own ego. Like in the episode, Fluttershy's fall is broken by butterflies. At that point, she realizes that she and the animals share a special understanding, and she vows to figure out a way to live her life far away from any other ponies. She then hears and sees a loud explosion in the sky, emanating from Cloudsdale, and realizes that while Cloudsdale is gone, she has found a new home, with actual friends. Fluttershy states that those friends, the animals, helped her to find her place in society. She mentions that several years later, she bumped into Rainbow Dash, and found out she was the only pony to survive the Cloudsdale Sonic Rainboom. She also mentions that Dash has never told her what happened that day. Back in the present, Fluttershy realizes that killing the dragon will go against her own principles, and briefly considers the idea, before voices in her head call her "murderer" and "sadist", for example. She then attempts to argue with the voice, to no avail. The comic then uses some scenes from Hurricane Fluttershy, specifically, the scene with her crying under the tree, and her animal friends trying to comfort her. Fluttershy doubts her ability to climb the mountain, and kill the dragon, but the badger helps her to realize that sometimes, one must make compromises. She then steels her will to kill the dragon, realizing everyone's life depends on it. Fluttershy determines then that the dragon will be the best chance to show everypony what happens when they mess with here, and that, although the situation was unexpected, it will be her claim to glory. At this point, the comic switches back to scenes from Dragonshy. Fluttershy's newly found courage vanishes when Twilight is giving a pep-talk to the ponies, and states that it will be a test of their loyalty, making Fluttershy wonder whether she'll be considered a traitor if she fails. As the ponies prepare to head out, Fluttershy comes to the realization that she has to go through with the plan. However, Fluttershy tries one last time to avoid having to go on the journey, by bringing up the fact that she has to stay behind and care for her animals, but Twilight reveals that she already thought of that, and has gotten Spike to agree to care for them. As the group approaches the mountain, Rainbow Dash tries to convince Twilight to let her and Fluttershy just fly up to the top and handle the dragon, but Twilight asserts that there's too much that could go wrong with just the two of them dealing with the dragon. Dash tries to argue that if Fluttershy is really as capable as Twilight said she is, then she would be able to handle the dragon all be herself, but Twilight reveals that she doesn't trust any of them enough to handle the situation without her. As they continue to ascend the mountain, Pinkie laughs at Twilight's paranoia, saying Twilight reminds her of herself when she killed three fillies, implied to be the Cutie Mark Crusaders, when she thought they stole her pie. Twilight and Pinkie then have separate thoughts about their relief that the others are taking something so lightly: Twilight about her mistrust of them, and Pinkie about the death of their (specifically, Applejack's and Rarity's) siblings. The group continues up the mountain; however, Rainbow Dash notices that Fluttershy isn't making any progress. Fluttershy doubts in her ability to climb the mountain, so Pinkie suggests cutting off Fluttershy's limbs, and then having Applejack carry her, which causes Fluttershy to worry that she's already losing their trust. However, Twilight tells Applejack to carry Fluttershy closer to the summit, but Fluttershy, thinking that they're actually going through with the plan of delimbing her, falls over like a fainting goat. As Applejack finishes dragging Fluttershy to the spot where the others are waiting, Rainbow Dash suggests to Twilight that they just ditch Fluttershy and figure out another way to get rid of the dragon. Later on in the journey, the group comes to a crevice, and like in the episode, all the ponies make it over, save for Fluttershy, who is too nervous to jump. Like in the episode as well, Pinkie tries to reassure Fluttershy by singing a song; unlike in the episode, her song in the comic is much darker, and she ends with threatening to gut Fluttershy if she doesn't attempt the jump. After Fluttershy makes the jump successfully, landing on Dash in the process, the group enters an avalanche zone. Rainbow begins to wonder whether Fluttershy is the traitor, due to the latter's reluctance with everything on the journey to that point. As she thinks about how Fluttershy has not done anything to harm them yet, a leaf floats down onto Fluttershy's back. Like in the episode, the leave startles Fluttershy into shouting; however, in the comic, she only gets out "AVAL-" before Applejack stuffs her hoof into her mouth, and it is Applejack's cry of "SHUT UP!" that echoes, and causes the avalanche. The ponies begin to run from the avalanche, and Twilight wonders whether Fluttershy was really trying to kill them. Twilight then begins to worry about whether they'll even be able to slay the dragon, let alone Celestia, if they can't survive the mountain. Her thinking distracts her, however, and Applejack is able to push her out of the way of a falling rock just in time. After the ponies escape the avalanche, Fluttershy's location is not immediately apparent, and Rainbow Dash speculates that the dragon could just be Fluttershy's trap, and she ran off to celebrate with Celestia, thinking that she killed them all with a "measly" avalanche. This causes Fluttershy to burst out crying, and plead with the ponies for their trust, and Dash apologizes for her outburst, saying she's just on edge because of the whole dragon business. Dash expresses her continued doubts about Fluttershy quietly to Twilight, and Twilight can't help but feel that Rainbow might be right about Fluttershy, even though Twilight doesn't want her to be. As the ponies make their approach on the cave, Applejack asks for clarification on the plan, which Twilight gives. However, this just sows more doubt in Rarity, who wonders aloud if there shouldn't be more planning, to which Twilight asserts there doesn't need to be, which seems to give Rarity a sudden feeling of insecurity. Twilight then fleshes out the plan in detail, causing Fluttershy to wonder if Twilight is counting on none of them being the traitors, and she speculates that if she fails, she'll be dead. Fluttershy then attempts to stall by asking for some time, as she says the trek up the mountain is finally taking its toll on her. Applejack states that it's alright, but goes on to say that Fluttershy has been a nuisance the entire trip, and that her patience is wearing thin, so the plan should be started right then and there. As Fluttershy again attempts to stall for time, Rainbow Dash rushes into the cave, in order to get Fluttershy to finally reveal her loyalty, much to the horror of Twilight, who wonders if Rainbow is trying to get herself killed. Rainbow flies up and kicks the dragon in the face, making it angry. It then knocks her out of the cave and into her friends. Twilight realizes the dragon is up now, so she calls Fluttershy to come and kill the dragon. However, Fluttershy is nowhere to be found, and Twilight believes that she has put faith in the wrong pony. Twilight puts up a magical barrier to protect the ponies, sans Fluttershy, from the coming flames. Fluttershy is still reluctant to kill the dragon, however, and eventually, the dragon’s flames break the barrier. It is at this point that Fluttershy realizes she must do just that in order to save her friends. She flies up and scolds the dragon, shocking Twilight in the process. After she scolds the dragon, she rips out its eyes, off-screen, sending blood raining down upon Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. This delights Pinkie, as she remarks that Fluttershy “sure knows how to have a good time”. She attempts to comfort the dragon, as Twilight reveals, through her thoughts, that she mind-controlled the dragon, in order to provoke Fluttershy into action, and test her loyalty. Her doubts quelled, Twilight apologizes to Fluttershy. The dragon jumps off the mountain, in an act of suicide, as Fluttershy admonishes it in her thoughts, stating that she let it live, and so it didn't have to do that. Later, when the ponies are down off the mountain, Twilight thanks Fluttershy for doing what she did, and Fluttershy responds by saying she did what she had to. Twilight then thinks about her suspect list getting smaller, and wonders if Celestia lied about the mole. The final comic involves Fluttershy thinking to herself about how she almost fell for Twilight's loyalty trap, while Twilight talks in the background about how she is glad to have Fluttershy as a friend, and her final though of the comic is, "So close, yet so far." Act 5: Sonic Rainboom The fifth chapter begins with scenes from right after the opening theme song in Sonic Rainboom; namely, of Rainbow Dash practicing her routine while Fluttershy cheers her on. Rainbow Dash is still suspicious of Fluttershy, and so plans to test her method for killing Celestia on the latter pony. Rainbow Dash also states that the upcoming Best Young Fliers' Competition will be held in Cloudsdale, and that since she already destroyed Cloudsdale once, a second time should be easy. Rainbow Dash then thinks that killing Celestia will be worth all the lives sacrificed, and that killing the Princess and Fluttershy will be her redemption. However, instead of pulling off a sonic rainboom, like in the episode, Rainbow Dash is flung backwards by the shockwave. Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle is thanking her friends for helping her to organize her library, when Rainbow Dash comes crashing through the window and knocking the books off their shelves. Fluttershy continues to cheer and encourage Dash on, which causes the latter to feel as though the former is mocking her. Rainbow Dash mentions that she will be participating in the Best Young Fliers' Competition, and like in the episode the chapter is based on, the prize is spending a day with the Wonderbolts. Applejack wishes all of them could come along, and while Rainbow Dash says that she wishes they were all Pegasi so that they could come watch her, she thinks to herself that it's good they can't follow her, as they'll be safe on the ground. Rainbow Dash leaves, and Fluttershy follows, but not before asking them to try and find a way to come and cheer Dash on. Twilight decides the other four should find a way to go, as Celestia will be there, and Twilight worries that she might try something if they aren't there to stop her. Pinkie finds a book, containing a spell called "Metamorphosis", and while Twilight agrees that it could work, she also asserts that it's black magic, and she doesn't know if it's reversible. Rarity volunteers to be the test subject, as she claims that she is well-versed in the black arts, and is certain that she would be able to reverse the spell. Twilight casts the spell, transforming Rarity. In Cloudsdale, Fluttershy mentions to Rainbow Dash that she asked their other friends to find a way to join them in Cloudsdale, and sure enough, Rarity appears, announcing that they came to cheer Dash on. Rainbow Dash freaks out and asks Fluttershy what she's done, while wondering if she's on to her. Rainbow Dash then comments on Rarity's distorted eyes, asking her what happened. Rarity replies that black magic awoke a demon within her. When both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy register reactions of shock, Rarity responds by claiming to still be herself, just more of an ultimate being. Fluttershy asks if the others got demons too, and Rarity responds that only ponies who have made deals with abominations can "transcend into fabulousness". Rainbow Dash expresses worry about the others, but, as if to put those fears to rest, they arrive on the balloon. Twilight states that they're fine, and after the competition is over, they'll exorcise Rarity. Twilight then states that they found a spell that lets them walk on clouds, without the involvement of demons. Applejack then requests a tour around New Cloudsdale, and Rainbow Dash agrees, then wonders to herself if she'll be able to kill her friends for the greater good. Rarity continues admiring her wings in a mirror, while a reflection of Princess Luna tells Rarity to make sure Rainbow Dash goes through with her plan. Rainbow Dash asks if Rarity's alright, and Fluttershy replies that it seems she just enjoys her new wings. Rainbow Dash leads the ponies on a tour of Cloudsdale, noting that even though it has been years since the destruction of Old Cloudsdale, the reconstruction efforts are still ongoing, with some saying they'll never be completed. Rainbow Dash hears a voice that says "We will make sure of that..." but believes it to be her imagination. Then, Rainbow takes the ponies to an area riddled by toxic "rainbowactive" waste, which Rainbow claims contaminated all the parts of Cloudsdale not vaporized by the boom. Pinkie tastes the rainbow, and decides it would go well with her cupcake recipe. Rarity reappears, with Dumb-Bell, Hoops, and Score following her. The demon inside Rarity contacts Rainbow Dash again, and just as Rainbow Dash is about to call it out, it quiets her by telling her to shut up if she wants to kill Celestia. It then reveals that it showed up to make sure Rainbow Dash goes along with her plan to kill Celestia, even if it means also killing her friends in the process. Rainbow Dash realizes that the demon that possessed Rarity is Nightmare Moon, and Rainbow Dash starts to resist Nightmare Moon's idea for killing Celestia, so Nightmare Moon possesses her. References External link *The comic's archive page Category:Webcomics